London households affected by the benefit cap (2014-2024 Q2)
Last updated: December 2024
Next estimated update: March 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the number of households in London who are affected by the benefit cap, and how much income they are missing out on because of the cap.
The benefit cap limits the amount of money that most working-age people can receive from benefits. In Greater London the limit is £25,323 per year or £16,697 for single adults with no children. This was reduced in November 2016, and recently increased in April 2023. The benefit cap is applied by either reducing Universal Credit or Housing Benefit (for those not claiming Universal Credit).
What does it tell us?
More than 38,000 households in London had their income reduced by the benefit cap in May 2024. This has increased by more than 49% since before the pandemic (May 2019) and significantly since 2023. However, the number of households affected by the benefit cap is lower now than the peak of 57,000 households during the pandemic.
The data refers to the month of May for each year spanning 2014 to 2024, and includes caps to Housing Benefit until 2016 and Housing Benefit and out-of-work Universal Credit combined, from 2017 onwards. The data disaggregated by type of benefit and region (London, rest of England) can be found in the CSV download.
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